No such thing as cheap labor

We all know this is true, but when you see it in print, it is an eye opener: cheap labor?

Isn’t that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn’t want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don’t want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don’t want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase “cheap labor” is a myth, a farce and a lie. There is no such thing as “cheap labor.”

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5 or $6 a hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax. Yet at the end of the year, if he files an income tax return, he gets an “earned income credit” of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are or become aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI, they can qualify for Medicare.

All of this is at the taxpayers’ expense. He doesn’t worry about car insurance, life insurance or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20 to $30 per hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5 or $6 an hour left after paying their bills and his.

The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash cleanup.